SRI LANKA CRICKET NEWS – JULY 2019

               Compiled by Victor Melder

Sri Lanka defeated West Indies by 23 runs, winning the 39^th Match of the One-Day International Series, played at Riverside Grounds, Chester-le-Street.

Scores:

Sri Lanka – 338/6 in 50 Overs (Fernando 104, M.Perera 64, Thirimanne 45no, Mendis 39, Karunaratne 32,  Holder 2/59, Allen 1/44,  Thomas 1/58, Cottrell 1/69)

West Indies – 315/9 in 50 Overs (Pooran 118, Allen 51, Gayle 35, Malinga 3/55, Mathews 1/6, Vandersay 1/50, Rajitha 1/76)

Player of the Match: Avishka Fernando, Sri Lanka

India defeated Sri Lanka by 7 wickets, winning the 44^th Match of the One-Day International Series, played at Headingley, Leeds.

Scores:

Sri Lanka – 264/7 in 50 Overs (Mathews 113, Thirimanne 53, de Silva 29no, Bumrah 3/37, Jadeja 1/40, Pandya 1/50, Yadav 1/58, Kumar 1/73)

India – 265/3 in 43.3 Overs (Rahul 111, Sharma 103, Kohli 34no,  Rajitha 1/47, Udana 1/50, Malinga 1/82)

Player of the Match: Rohit  Sharma (India)

Ranjan Madugalle, the chief among ICC Match Referees has been chosen once again as the head of the match officials for the epic final between New Zealand and England. This will be the 60-year-old’s fourth World Cup final having officiated in the 1999, 2003 and 2015 finals. The former Test captain missed only three World Cup finals since joining the ICC in 1993 and that’s because in 1996, 2007 and 2011 Sri Lanka were in the final. Madugalle is a highly respected official and has been chosen to officiate some key ICC events and important bilateral series like the Ashes. His balanced decisions, communications skills, chilled out exterior but steely convictions has earned the admiration of all nations. It is said that Madugalle has mastered the art of diplomacy so well that when he tells a player to go to hell, he does it in such a way that the player in fact looks forward for the trip. He fined Jason Roy 30 percent of his match fee for showing dissent after being given out in the semi-final against Australia in Birmingham. Umpire Kumar Dharmasena has been also chosen to stand in the game as an on-field umpire alongside South Africa’s Marais Erasmus. During Thursday’s semi-final, it looked as if Dharmasena had cooked his goose after he gave a bad decision. The former Test cricketer ruled Roy caught behind when the bat was nowhere near resulting in an angry outburst by the batsman. England had no reviews left and were left fuming. Thankfully, the decision didn’t cost them the game. Apart from that one poor decision, Dharmasena had a very good game and rarely his decisions were overturned. Dharmasena also officiated in the last World Cup final when Australia beat New Zealand at MCG. He was recently ranked world’s best umpire. Dharmasena was  a member of the Sri Lankan side that won the 1996 World Cup. He concentrated on a career in banking after retiring from the sport and took up umpiring as a hobby. But in 2008, he was fast tracked as an international umpire by Sri Lanka Cricket and in a very short period made an impact. (Daily Island, 13.7.2019)

New Zealand will tour Sri Lanka, from August 3, 2019 to September 7, 2019, playing Two test Matches and Three T20 Matches. They will play one Test at Galle and the other in Colombo. The T20 matches will be, two in Colombo and one in Kandy. They will also play a 3-day Warm-Up Match, prior to the Test’s and a T20 Warm-Up match prior to the T20 matches. (SLC Media Release, 5.7.2019))

Sri Lanka named an unprecedented squad of 22 players for just three ODI matches against Bangladesh starting on July 26.

Sri Lanka squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (captain), Kusal Perera, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Danushka Gunetilleke, Dasun Chanaka, Wanidu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, Amila Aponso, Lakshan Sandakan, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Lahiru Madushanka (Sunday Observer, 21.7.2019)

The touring Bangladeshi’s, beat the Sri Lanka Board President’s XI by 5 wickets to win the One-Day Warm-Up match, played at the P. Sara Oval, Colombo. Scores:

Sri Lanka Board President’s XI 282/8 in 50 Overs (Shanaka 86no, Jayasuriya 56, Rajapaksa 32, de Silva 28, Gunathilaka 26, Sarkar 2/29, Hossain 2/31, Reza 1/22, Rahman 1/29, Ahmed 1/57)

Bangladesh – 285/5 in 48.1 Overs (Mithun 91, Rahim 50, Iqbal 37,  Mahamudullah 33, Rahman 31no, Kumara 2/26, de Silva 1/39, Dananjaya 1/47, Rajitha 1/57) 

Sri Lanka beat the touring Bangladeshi’s by 91 runs to win the First ODI, played at the R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo. Scores:

Sri Lanka – 314/8 in 50 Overs (M. Perera 111, Mathews 48, Mendis 43, Karunaratne 36, Islam 3/62, Rahman 2/75, Sarkar 1/17, Uossain 1/54, Miraz 1/56)

Bangladesh – 223 in 41.4 Overs (Rahim 67, Rahman 60, Malinga 3/38, Pradeep 3/51, de Silva 2/49, Kumara 1/45) 

Player of the Match: Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka)  

Lasith Malinga shone in his farewell match after Kusal Perera struck a quick-fire century as Sri Lanka crushed Bangladesh by 91 runs in the first one-day of a three-match series in Colombo on Friday. Malinga rattled Bangladesh with his fiery opening spell, reducing the visitors to 39-4 in the process, without allowing them to recover from the damage despite the best efforts by Mushfiqur Rahim and Sabbir Rahman. Mushfiqur made 67 while Sabbir added 60 as the duo shared an 111-run partnership for the fifth wicket but Bangladesh stuttered to 223 all out in 41.4 overs replying to Sri Lanka’s 314-8. Retiring Malinga claimed 3-38 while Nuwan Pradeep (3-51) and Dhananjaya de Silva (2-49) played their parts in the win. “I feel it’s the right time for me to retire from ODIs. I have been playing for the last 15 years for Sri Lanka and this is the right time to move on,” Malinga, who finished his ODI career with 338 wickets, said after the game. “My time is over and I have to go.” (Sunday Island, 28.7.2019)

Sri Lanka beat the touring Bangladeshi’s by 7 wickets to win the Second ODI, played at the R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo. Scores:

Bangladesh – 238/8 in 50 Overs (Rahim 98no, Miraz 43, Dananjaya 2/39, Pradeep 2/53, Udana 2/58)

Sri Lanka – 242/3 in 44.4 Overs (Fernando 82, Mathews 52no, Mendis 41no, M. Perera 30, Rahman 2/50, Miraz 1/51)

Player of the Match: Avishka Fernando (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka beat the touring Bangladeshi’s by 122runs to win the Third and final ODI, played at the R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo. Scores:

Sri Lanka – 294/8 in 50 Overs (Mathews 87, Mendis 54, Karunaratne 46, M. Perera 42, Shanaka 30, Sarkar 3/56, S. Islam 3/68, T. Islam 1/34, Hossain 1/55)

Bangladesh – 172 in 36 Overs (Sarkar 69, T. Islam 39no,  Shanaka 3/27, Rajitha 2/17, Kumara 2/26, de Silva 1/16, Dananjaya 1/44)

Player of the Match: Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka)

Player of the Series: Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka won the 3-match series 3-0